For electrically connecting a machine having a storage battery and a device for suppling electric power for charging to the machine, connectors for electrical connection have been widely used. Conventional examples of such connectors for electrical connection includes a charging connector configured to be connected to a charging inlet of an electric vehicle (see Document 1 (JP2010-239827A) for example).
Document 1 discloses a charger configured to charge a storage battery (on-vehicle battery) equipped in an electric vehicle through a charging connector and a charging cable. This charger has functions configured to detect occurrence of ground fault and occurrence of electric leakage, and is configured to stop supplying electric power to an electric vehicle when detecting occurrence of ground fault or electric leakage.
In recent years, power feeding from a storage battery of an electric vehicle to a load (e.g., light fixture in a residence) outside the vehicle has been increasingly performed. In such a case, the electric vehicle would be electrically connected to a charging-discharging control device via a connector and a cable. The charging-discharging control device would be configured to perform electrical conversion in two directions between an AC power and a DC power, and to control charging of the storage battery and supplying electric power from the storage battery to the load outside the vehicle.
In the conventional example described in Document 1, the charger is dedicated for charging a storage battery of an electric vehicle. It is therefore sufficient to stop supplying power in the inside of the charger, when a failure such as ground fault or electric leakage occurs.
However, in a case where electric power is discharged from a storage battery of an electric vehicle to an outside of the vehicle, even when a power feeding path from the storage battery is broken in a charging-discharging control device, the connector is still in connection with the storage battery. It is therefore desired to further improve the safety of a connector and a cable.